Big West student-athletes aren't only passionate when it comes to performing on the field or in the classroom, but also when it comes to the community. The Big West Conference will host #Play4Kay games this winter to support Breast Cancer Awareness. Check out one of the following games for a chance to receive a #BigWestCares wristbands featured below!

DATE

INSTITUTION

SPORT

2/9

UC Santa Barbara

Women's Basketball

2/11

Cal State Fullerton

Women's Basketball

2/16

CSUN

Women's Basketball

2/18

Cal Poly

Women's Basketball

2/18

Long Beach State

Women's Basketball

2/23

UC Irvine

Women's Basketball

The second half of conference play starts with two #Play4Kay games and an ESPN3 showdown as the league's clubs start the sprint to the Big West Tournament in five weeks time.

AROUND THE BIG WEST

MUSTANGS/TITANS ON E3
A pair of teams will be making their second appearance of the season on ESPN3 this weekend as Cal Poly heads to Orange County to take on Cal State Fullerton. The game has extra meaning to the participants as the Titans have dubbed it their Play4Kay matchup. Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh, who was an assistant under legendary head coach Kay Yow, will look to snap a three-game losing skid while CSF looks to put an end to a five-game skid. The Mustangs have won just one game away from home this season, while all of the Titans’ wins this season have come in the friendly confines of Titan Gym.

CSUN RISING
CSUN has won three in a row for the first time this season, reaching .500 in both league play (4-4) and overall (11-11). Improved defense has been key as the Matadors have held their last three foes to an average of 57.7 points on 35.9% (70-195) from the floor.

NOT JUST A FREE THROW SHOOTER
Cal Poly junior Dynn Leaupepe has made a name for herself at the foul line as she leads the Big West and ranks fifth in the NCAA at 91.2%. Leaupepe has also turned heads with her overall play as she averages 13.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game.

QUEEN OF THE GLASS
CSUN sophomore Channon Fluker leads the Big West in rebounds per game (11.4) and just completed a week that saw her snatch a career-high 20 boards against Long Beach State. Fluker’s career rebounding average of 10.6 is sixth-best all-time in Big West history, while her 14 double-doubles this season are seventh in the NCAA.

TWO COACHES, TWO MILESTONES
Cal Poly head coach Faith Mimnaugh and UC Riverside head coach John Margaritis are on the verge of a couple coaching milestones in the Big West record books. Mimnaugh has 273 career wins in the Big West, just three wins shy of tying former UNLV coach Jim Bolla for second place in the conference record book. Meanwhile Margaritis is just four wins shy of 200 at UCR, which would make him just the fourth coach all-time to reach 200 career wins in the Big West.

THE AGGIE...DEFENSE?
UC Davis is known as a ruthlessly efficient offensive club but the defense that the Aggies have been playing has been just as good. UCD leads the Big West in scoring defense (61.2) and opponent field goal percentage (35.9), the latter figure also ranking 24th in the NCAA. The team is also picking up 3.7 blocks per game and leads the Big West and ranks 17th in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage (27.1).

GRAND STATUS
UC Riverside senior Simone DeCoud, Cal Poly senior Hannah Gilbert and Long Beach State senior Anna Kim became the 130th, 131st and 132nd members of the Big West 1,000-point club this season.

UC Riverside senior Réjane Vérin (910) is moving closer to the milestone as she put up 544 points last year, her first with UCR after transferring from UNLV.

#NumbersAreCool

1 - Number of players in Big West history that have led the league in scoring, rebounding and blocks in a single season. CSUN's Channon Fluker currently ranks fourth in scoring and leads in rebounding and blocks.

2 - UC Irvine's Shereen Sutherland has back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in her UCI career.

13 - Consecutive wins at home in league play by UC Riverside.

196 - Wins at UC Riverside by head coach John Margaritis. He is four away from becoming the fourth coach with 200 wins in the Big West.

4,431 - Average attendance of games at Hawai'i, 20th-best in the NCAA.

Big West Rise Up Tour Continues At UC Davis
The Big West Tour sponsored by Fox PrimeTicket and Coors Light returns for 2017, running January 12th through March 2nd. Over the course of the Tour, Big West representatives will make stops at the eight Big West campuses in California, giving fans opportunities to win prizes from the Big West spin wheel. The next stop is UC Davis on Feb. 7 and 8. The Big West Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament returns to Honda Center for the 2017 season, the event's 8th year at the Anaheim-based arena. The tournament runs March 9-11, with the women's first and second rounds March 7-8 at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid and the women's semifinals and finals at Honda Center March 10-11. The entire men's tournament will be played at Honda Center March 9-11.